SERGE DIAGHILEV AND THE STRANGE BIRTH OF THE BALLETS RUSSES

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SERGE DIAGHILEV AND THE STRANGE BIRTH OF THE BALLETS RUSSES

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• Langue: English
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SERGE DIAGHILEV AND
THE STRANGE BIRTH OF
THE BALLETS RUSSES
GEOFFREY MARSH
RelishingNationalAcclaim:Spring1905 recognizedasabenchmarkintheappreciationofRussianart
In the Banqueting Suite of the Metropole Hotel, Moscow,a andidentity.Evenhisenemiesacknowledgedhisastonishing
tall,bulky,elegantlydressedmanstandsupandacknowledges organizationalabilities, particularly during the dramatic
4theappreciativeapplauseofhiscolleagues–artists,critics, politicalupheavalsfollowingthe‘BloodySunday’massacre.
writers and friends (frontispiece, p.2). They have gathered
at a gala banquet to honour Serge Pavlovich Diaghilev’s Diaghilev’sChangingWorld
creationofthestupendousExhibitionofRussianHistorical In1905,Diaghilevwouldprobablyhavedismissedasabsurd
1Portraitsinthecapital,StPetersburg. Thetsar,NicholasII, theideathathewouldmanageacommercialballetcompany
hasalreadyopenedthedisplayinpersonandspenttwohours outside Russia. Yet, four years later, it had become his
viewingmostofhisRomanovancestorsamongthemany peculiardestiny–astrangemixtureofcreativeadventure,
famousRussians(pl.1). nationalisticresponsibilityandentrepreneurialburden.
AsDiaghilevlooksdownathisspeech,provocatively LikeDiaghilev’scomplexcharacter,thebirthoftheBallets
entitled‘TheHourofReckoning’,heisacutelyawareof Russeswasnotstraightforward.Acoincidenceofexternal
thepoliticalturmoiloutsideanditsextremeviolence.Seven circumstancescreatedanunusualopportunity,butitwas
weeks earlier, and only a few hundred metres away, the theinfusionofDiaghilev’srestlessambitionthatprovided
GrandDukeSergeiAleksandrovich,thetsar’suncleand thecatalystforthecreationofoneofthegreatestartistic
brother-in-law,hadbeenblownapartbyaterroristbomb enterprisesofthetwentiethcentury.
2insidetheprecinctsoftheKremlin. IfDiaghilevhadsuccessfullyriddenoutthecultural
After reflecting that his tour of country houses, stormpredictedinhisMoscowspeech,hisImperial
hunting for paintings, had revealed that ‘The end was connectionscombinedwithhisradicalartisticstance
here in front of me’, Diaghilev concludes: mighthaveresultedintheofferofakeypositioninthe
Russianartworld.Diaghilevaimedhighandbelievedhe
5We are witnessing the greatest historic hour of couldbeMinisterofCulture. Suchanappointment
reckoning,ofthingscomingtoanendinthenameof wouldsecurehisreputation,statusandfortuneforlife.
anew,unknownculture–onewhichwewillcreatebut Yet,despitehisimmediatetriumphin1905,thishappy
whichwillalsosweepusaway…Iraisemyglass…to outcomewasnottobe.Whereasbefore1906hisartistic
thenewcommandmentsofanewaesthetic.Theonly endeavourshadbeenwithinRussia,after1906theywere
wishthatI,anincorrigiblesensualist,canexpress,is alltotakeplaceabroad.Inthisprofoundchangelaythe
thattheforthcomingstruggleshouldnotdamagethe originsoftheBalletsRusses.Forthenext20yearsDiaghilev’s
amenitiesoflife,andthatthedeathshouldbeas entirelifewouldbedevotedtocreatinggreatperformance,
3beautifulandilluminatingastheResurrection. everywherebutinRussia.
To understand the origins of the Ballets Russes in
AsDiaghilevspokethesewords,hemusthavefeltatthepeak theseyears,itisessentialtoappreciatethatDiaghilevwas
ofhisartisticsuccessandthatfullofficialrecognitionwas intenselydriventosucceed,acharacteristicthatwentback
withinhisgrasp.At33,hehadassembledanexhibition tohisearlyyears.Hewasbornon19March1872,near
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NizhnyNovgorod,buthismotherdiedafewmonthslater. mighteventuallyleadtoapublicpositionandin1901hewas
Hisfather,acolonelinthecavalry,remarriedtwoyearslater arguingforthereorganizationofRussia’sartgallerieswith
and Diaghilev was brought up by his stepmother Yelena theclearimplicationthathewastherightmantoachieveit.
Panayeva.Diaghilevrecalledhowsheinstilledinhimawill However,allsuchprefermentwasdependentonthetsarand
to succeed, telling him never to use the words ‘I can’t’, justatthetimewhenDiaghilev’sreputationwasinthe
6insistingthat‘whenpeoplewantto,theycan’. ascendant,the1905Revolutionwastoerupt.
Diaghilevwaspartofanextensivefamilyoflanded
nobility,someofwhomreachedseniorgovernmentpositions. TheRoadtoRevolution:1904–5
Hisfamily’swealthwasbasedonamonopolyfordistilling IfDiaghilevreflectedonthemonthssinceautumn1904,even
vodkaandspiritsinPerm.SoonSergehadtwohalf-brothers, hewouldhavebeenstaggeredatthepaceofeventsandthe
ValentinandYury,andheseemstohavehadagenerally changedconditionofRussia.Sincegraduatinginlawfromthe
happychildhoodinStPetersburgwherethereweremany UniversityofStPetersburgin1896,hehadpursuedacareer
7relatives.From1879–90thefamilylivedinthePermregion asacritic,organizednumerouspaintingexhibitions and
neartheUrals,firstonthefamilyestateandtheninalarge co-foundedRussia’sfirstartsmagazineMiriskusstva(World
8mansioninPermitself. ofArt). Hehadmetthetsarseveraltimes,havingbrieflyheld
9Diaghilev’s drive was accentuated by the financial apositionintheImperialTheatre, andhadtriumphedin1905
disasterthatoverwhelmedhisfamilyin1890,whenhewas withhisspectacularExhibitionofRussianHistoricalPortraits
10just18andabouttogotouniversity.Hisfatherwasmade (pl.1). Althoughpoliticaltensionwasrisingduringthis
bankruptandallthefamilypropertywasauctionedto time,dissentwaslargelycontrolledbyharshrepression.
payoffhisdebts.Overnight,Diaghilev,whohadasmall However,in1904–5,politicalandeconomicpressuresbuilt
inheritancefromhismother,becameresponsibleforhis up until they exploded into revolution (pls 2 and 4).
father,stepmotherandhalf-brothers.Insteadofbeingable InMay1903whenthecapital,StPetersburg,celebrated
tolivethelifeofaleisurednobleman,heneededtofind its200thanniversary,suchupheavalwouldhaveseemed
asourceofincomethatwouldprovidepublicrecognition improbable, but the underlying problems that would
withoutcompromisinghissocialstatus. eventuallydestroyImperialRussiawereclear.Overthe
HiscareerduringhistwentiesshowsDiaghilevtrying previous40yearsthecity,PetertheGreat’s‘Windowtothe
tomakehismarkintheworldofthearts,asaresearcher, West’builtonthemarshesatthemouthoftheRiverNeva,
critic,editor,publisherandexhibitionorganizer.Success hadexpandedatbreakneckspeed(pl.3).Migrantsfromall
1.RoomofEmpress 2.TheNevskyProspect,
CatherineII,Exhibition StPetersburg,showingthe
ofRussianHistorical AdmiraltySpire,c.1901.
Portraits,TauridePalace, Thecapital’smainstreet
StPetersburg,1905. waslinedwithluxuryshops.
RussianMuseum,
StPetersburg
3.StPetersburg:Il’yin
CartographicSoc.,1911.
By1900theelegantcentral
boulevardsweresurrounded
byrailings,factoriesand
workers’housing.
CourtesyoftheRoyal
GeographicalSociety.

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5.HenriGervex,The
CoronationofNicolasII–
sketch.Oiloncanvas,1896.
Oneofthemostopulent
eventsoftheperiod,itwas
alsooneoftheearliestto
befilmed.
Muséed’Orsay,Paris
4.Poorcitizensin
StPetersburg,c.1900
SocietyforCooperation
inRussianandSoviet
Studies
overRussiasoughteconomicbettermentinitsexpanding Sunday’afewweekslater.FromthenonRussiadescended
15factories,mills,businessesandshops. intoescalatingviolencethroughout1905.
By1890thecapital’spopulationwasnudgingnearly ThegrowingoppositiontoImperialrulewasexacerbated
amillionbutoverthenextdecadeanother400,000people bythewarwithJapanoverManchuria,beguninFebruary
movedin.Itwasestimatedthat70percentofthepopulation 1904, which revealed the general incompetency of the
werenewarrivals,largelypeasantsfleeingthecountryside. administration.TheJapanesewonasuccessionofvictories
Factoriessprangupringingtheelegantcentre.Itwasacity culminatinginthecaptureofPortArthuron2January1905
ofextraordinarycontrastswhereindustrialistsweremaking (pl.6).Thisdefeatbyanon-Westernpowerwasahugeblow
vastfortuneswhilemostoftheworkerslivedinverypoor toRussia’sinternationalprestige,butworsewastofollow.
11conditions(pl.4). Atitsheartwasthetsar,surroundedby On27to28May1905,theJapanesedestroyedtheRussian
12 16themostbrilliantcourtinEurope. UnfortunatelyNicholas fleetattheBattleofTsushimaStrait.
II,whohadsucceededin1894ontheunexpecteddeathofhis The tsar became the focus of increasing political
fatherattheageof49,wassingularlyillsuitedtosolvingthe oppositionandbyearlyOctobertherewasadefactogeneral
13country’sproblems(pl.5). Hisreactionaryviewswerebacked strikeacrossthecountry,inwhichthedancersoftheImperial
14 17bythehugeinfluenceandwealthoftheOrthodoxChurch. Theatresparticipated. Diaghilev,whowasinStPetersburg
Fromthesummerof1904politicaltensionincreased, organizingthereturnoftheloansfromhisportraitexhibition,
particularlyfollowingtheassassinationinJulyoftheInterior describedtheatmosphere:
Minister,VyacheslavvonPlehve.ByNovembertherewere
nationwidedemandsforliberalizationofthepress,andin Don’t be angry at my silence. It’s impossible to
December1904thetsarissuedamanifestopromisingsome describe what’s going on here: we’re shut in on all
politicalreforms.This,however,merelypromptedastrike sides, in complete darkness, no chemists, trams,
at the huge Putilov engineering works in south-west St newspapers, telephones or telegraphs and waiting
18Peters